


Mercy

by kimbleefucker (hihowareya)



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Gen, this is not romantic...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-12
Updated: 2018-11-12
Packaged: 2019-08-22 14:48:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16599974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hihowareya/pseuds/kimbleefucker
Summary: There was an air of uncertainty in what drove him to act as he did, but you found a seed of respect growing, thinking that even under his cold exterior, he had the capacity for mercy.





	Mercy

**Author's Note:**

> this is just a little thing i've been thinking about for like... 4 years. it's nothing special and hastily done but you get the idea i hope.

Your superior officer was, in a word, abhorrent.

He was a slob, he was rude, he trounced about Ishval reeking of whiskey and tobacco with his rifle slung low over his shoulder. How this man became a state alchemist was beyond you- his brand of alchemy wasn't even terribly impressive

Occasionally you'd overhear him make crude comments to the other soldiers under his command, some would shrink away in discomfort and others would join him in his boisterous mockery. His words turned over in your stomach like a dead fish rising to the surface of a poisoned lake.

You envied the soldiers under the other alchemists, how they seemed so much more organized and, if content was a word that could be used here...

You prayed every day that you'd be placed under major Mustang or major Kimblee's command, that someone would just accidentally shoot your commander... point blank.

If it wasn't the way he talked about women or the way he spoke about the other alchemists, it was the way he spoke of the Ishvalans. Of course you were no less guilty of taking their lives, but you took no pleasure in what you did. He on the other hand had turned it into a game. Bragging about his own arbitrary point system, and how much pride he took in his cruelty. You wanted to be as far away from him as possible.

And of course, it was your luck that today, you were assigned patrol with him and two of his more loyal followers. You noticed him stray from his assigned district and into Kanda- the district patroled by major Kimblee. 

You brought up the rear in an attempt to ignore the way they happily hunted down their prey. You watched as they would gang up on the few straggling people left, taunt them mercilessly before delivering their execution. You had to turn away as one of the younger officers feverishly beat the head of an older man in with the butt of his rifle as his friend stepped on the geriatric man's arms to prevent the struggle. What was wrong with a simple kill shot, quick and easy? Your method was far more humane (as humane as genocide could be).

It wasn't until you'd almost cleared out an abandoned home with a crater where a wall once stood that you found yourself speaking up, and being held back. You turned your head away as your superior and his fellows taunted a teenage Ishvalan girl, explicitly detailing all the things they planned to do to her before killing her- dehumanizing her verbally before moving to do so physically.

Your elbow collided with the face of the man holding your arms, knocking him out cold. You made a move for the 2 remaining, when the girl's frightened eyes that had previously been locked on you, shuddered open wide in shock then closed, as a bullet passed through her temple; her death was instant. The sound of the gunshot resounded in the small room.

You and your commander whipped back to the wide open entrance, eyes locking on the man standing in plain sight, pistol in hand, glaring in annoyance at your superior. He growled and dropped the girl's lifeless body.

"Kimblee- what the fuck do you think you're doing? She ain't worth nothin' to me now..." His lack of title displaying his aggressive disrespect for the other alchemist.

"I might ask you the same question. What do you think you're doing? Surely you haven't forgotten, the Kanda district is my project." His tone was even and calm but held an underlying degree of annoyance. 

"You left a lotta roaches crawlin' around... not my fault I had to come exterminate them for ya..." His hand hovered above his discarded rifle, ready to grab it if Kimblee decided to move.

"I'm currently finishing the job now- or I was until I was forced to deal with unwelcome guests." Kimblee shot a look of annoyance to match his tone at your superior and then yourself, and you did your best to communicate with your eyes that you had nothing to do with this, wondering if he was observant enough to catch on.

"Regardless of whether you think I needed your assistance or not, our job is to eliminate the Ishvalans. Nothing else.” His arm holding the pistol lowered to his side. 

If a fight broke out, there was no doubt you wouldn't be making it out of here alive. Your commander's alchemy was good, but held nowhere near the catastrophic capabilities that Kimblee's signature alchemy did. Kimblee could destroy anything and everyone here easily. He had, and he would again. You swallowed hard as you watched the two men. The officer standing near the body of the Ishvalan girl clenched his fist. 

“Major,” He spoke up. “What does it matter? If we kill them anyway, whatever happens before hand, it doesn't really matter.” Kimblee narrowed his eyes.

“Do you really think so? You should try to hold at least a little respect for the people you kill, soldier. Remember them and their faces. Even in death, you won't be forgotten.” His tone was nonchalant but there was conviction in his words. 

The other 2 men looked at each other in mutual confusion. It's true major Kimblee was a bit... eccentric. He didn't socialize much with the others, save for Mustang now and again, and he never seemed affected by the job they were doing. Still, he stood here, with an uncharacteristically serious expression on his face, admonishing his peers for a crime that wasn't actually that uncommon in times of war. 

“Kimblee...”, your commander growled, “You're some self-righteous prick, you know that? Actin' high and mighty like you're better than us... but you're just the same as the rest of us.” 

The other alchemist stared blankly at the people in the room, before reclasping his pistol in it's holster. 

“Your opinion means nothing to me.” He stated blankly. “The orders given were to eliminate the Ishvalans. Nothing more.” You had never seen him look so agitated. It wasn't substantial, he maintained his aura of nonchalance; but you could sense a bubbling annoyance beneath his surface. Something about the situation wasn't to his liking. 

Kimblee stared down your superior for a while, then turned away. “If you're done interfering, then clean up your officer and get out of my district. Don't get involved with my work again.” There was a definite hint of anger in his voice and you watched him shrug off his military jacket as he walked away.

You and your superior left with the other two in tow, returning to base camp in time for break. You'd hoped to catch Kimblee and thank him, but you didn't see him around. There was an air of uncertainty in what drove him to act as he did, but you found a seed of respect growing, thinking that even under his cold exterior, he had the capacity for mercy.


End file.
